


Dog Days

by hawkfruit



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Does a dog count as an OC, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Holidays, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Language, Modern AU, Short, Short & Sweet, dog sitter AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-20
Updated: 2018-09-28
Packaged: 2019-07-11 16:27:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15976091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hawkfruit/pseuds/hawkfruit
Summary: When Morgana suddenly drops a dog-watching responsibility on her brother Arthur, who is already busy enough dealing with his huge new promotion coming up, the young businessman finds himself at a loss. When Merlin moves to the city and gets tackled on the street by a small blur of fur, he doesn't know what to expect."'Gwaine would say it’s fate, or some other bull like that.' Arthur felt a fond grin pull at his lips. 'But Gwaine’s an ass, so.'"





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This took forever to write. And it was supposed to be a one-shot, but it became much too long. Anyway, two notes: When I write the texts, its the names they have for each other in their phones. So the name that pops up as Arthur's is what Merlin has for him and vice versa, no matter whose POV its in. Second, Lance is Lancelot. Though some of the other names sound weird being old time-y Lancelot's was the only one I really couldn't leave without it bugging me too much, and he has an easy fix. Also, I'm writing Morgana more how she was in season 1, though translated into a modern setting. Anyway, enjoy!

A  _ dog. _

What in all seven bloody hells was Arthur supposed to do with a dog? And with that kind of dog too— if one could even call it that, anyway. When Arthur had mentioned absently to his father that he might be interested in getting a dog one day— in the far future— he meant a big bounding dog with a firm snout and huge paws. A Mastiff, a Great Dane, maybe a Rottweiler. They were called  _ great _ for a reason. Not a… a…

Even though he was alone in his flat on this Wednesday evening, he gestured his hand towards the creature currently sitting on his carpet (his expensive carpet), as if trying to ask someone nearby what word he was looking for.

Rat dog. It was a rat dog. 

With a long-suffering sigh he didn’t even bother to close the door behind him as he shrugged off his coat and set down his bags. He crouched down and, after moving the rat dog a couple of of centimeters to the right (off of his expensive carpet), he detached the note that was tied with a ribbon around its collar. 

Maybe it was the extra touch of the bright red ribbons, or the type of dog, or the semi-reckless abandon that his father showed in sending him this creature to his high-style London flat, but Arthur somehow already knew who was behind all of this before he even read the note. With a sinking feeling his eyes passed over the swirled text, and realized he was correct.

_ Dearest brother, _

_ I’m afraid all of my dog sitters cancelled on me at the very last moment, and with no other option I couldn’t very well cancel the trip to the Caribbean that I have been planning all season, now could I? Think of how upset Layla would be. And anyway, our father, that is, our shared father, told me you had recently shown interest in adopting a dog for yourself, and I thought how marvelous that two birds could be killed with one stone!  _

_ You can now have a taste for what it is like to care for one of man’s best friend, all the while leaving me in your debt as you do me this great favor. However, I think you’ll find Mimi is much more well-behaved than most other dogs you can find.  _

Arthur paused to glance skeptically up at the dog, who currently sat stock-still, trembling and bug-eyed as it stared intently at some point in the distance. He looked over his shoulder and found absolutely nothing for the dog to be looking at. He tried to suppress a shiver. He skimmed through the list of instructions as to what to feed it, schedules of when to take it out to go to the bathroom, and how often to walk it. 

_ Thank you so much in advance for doing this, I’ll make absolutely certain to send you a postcard, and pick up something  _ extra _ nice for you while I am here! Have fun, and try not to fall too much in love with Mimi—remember, you have to promise to give her back to me at the end! _

_ Your loving sister, _

_ Morgana Pendragon. _

_ P.S. Try not to let father get to you too much—I know you have that big promotion coming up soon. You’ll do just fine.  _

With a groan he tossed the ornate card at the glass coffee table, standing up and pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes, brushing back strands of blond hair. He had to walk it? Could this dog even walk more than a block? And she, of course, didn’t send over any of its bags of foods or bowls of water, only a small, plush bed in a deep shade of purple for it to sleep on and a harness set with a bedazzled leash. He glanced out the window, where the starless night sky lay peacefully. He wasn’t sure where the nearest pet store was, and even less so whether they were open this late. 

His father was doing this on purpose. 

He knew that Arthur’s new promotion started on Monday, and he wanted to throw him for a loop to prove that he wouldn’t be able to do to run the company just yet, and would have to continue to train under Uther Pendragon for another few years. 

Well, to hell with that. He was going to do a bloody marvelous job on Monday, and he was going to do a bloody marvelous job with this dog. Starting by walking it to the nearest pet store, wherever that happened to be, and buying it the essentials. How was that for killing two birds with one stone?

Arthur looked down to where Mimi was. Or, more accurately, where Mimi had just been. He only had a second to see a pale brown blur shooting past the opening of the door before it was gone. 

_ Shit.  _

He didn’t think to grab anything except his keys off the rack before he sprinted after the thing, only just slamming the door behind him before bounding down the hallway. 

He watched it shoot in between the legs of a business woman that was just opening the door to come in through the stairs, and he called out an apology as he ran past her and all but shoved his way through the door. For something so small it ran ridiculously fast. 

This was going to be a long night.

 

* * *

 

 

Locals often complained about the grey skies, about the traffic, about the noise, but in all honesty Merlin loved London. It was a far cry from the small town he had grown up in with his mother, and the decision to come here to find work, even if he had yet to find it exactly, was one of the best choices he had ever made.

Not that he made very many good choices to begin with. 

Even at night, as he strolled down the fairly empty streets to discover more of the city, he found London to be entirely fascinating. His smile was hidden as he dug his face further into his mother’s handmade scarf in an attempt to fight off the November chill, and for a moment, all of his worries faded away. Tonight was perfect. 

At least, that’s what he thought. 

One moment he was looking up at the starless skies and the next he was looking  _ way too far up _ at the sky, a rush of wind, a feeling of falling, and a resonating  _ thud  _ against the back of his head serving as the only indicators of what had happened. He had managed to break the fall at least somewhat with his elbows, and he rubbed at the back of his head with his raw palms for a moment before staring down at the weight on his chest.

Was that—a dog? 

A chihuahua, to be exact, yipped at him from where it sat on his chest. Its body trembled against him and the street lamps caught against the light brown of its fur as its tail wagged. He laughed somewhat incredulously, reaching a hand over to give it a scratch behind the ears.

“Oh thank god, you caught it, my sister would have killed m—Wait. Did Mimi knock you down?”

A stranger’s voice rang overhead, and Merlin looked up to see a panting blond towering over him. 

“That depends… is this dog on my chest named Mimi?”

“Yes.”

“Then, yes. I guess so.”

He was bewildered to find that suddenly the stranger’s laugh was reverberating through the streets, loud and not without its hint of mocking. He laughed, and laughed, and even as pedestrians across the road shot questioning looks he continued, actually doubling over in laughter.

Great. He hadn’t even been out tonight for ten minutes and someone was already laughing at him.

“Gee, thanks, if you’re fine with tonight’s comedy show being over already I’ll just be going then.”

He moved the dog onto the sidewalk, brushing off his jacket as he pushed off his elbows to sit up.

“No, no, I’m sorry I— ahaha—I just can’t believe such a small dog could really  _ knock  _ someone over, I mean—ha—how weak are you?” The man could just barely get the words out as he unsuccessfully tried to calm down.

“Sorry, but I’m  _ not  _ here all week, now if you’ll excuse me—” 

“Here,” with his laughter finally subsiding to a couple chuckles he held out a square hand. 

Merlin looked at it skeptically before taking it, and in an instant was shot up to his feet with much more strength than he had expected. Luckily the other didn’t seem to notice that he basically wobbled as he tried to find his footing.

“It just ran out of the flat,” he explained, waving the same hand towards the now perfectly patient dog, “before I even realized what had happened, and led me down a chase for five blocks.”

At eye level Merlin could see the stranger better—a young man, who could only be a handful of years older than him, surely, with square shoulders and a strong build. His hair shone a rich golden against the streetlamp, and his eyes were a slight deeper shade of blue than his own. 

Merlin realized with a start the man had kept on rambling, without Merlin having listened at all.

“—and I mean, sisters, am I right?”

“I—ah, yeah. Well, I mean, I don’t have any of my own, but I, can uh… imagine that it’s, you know. Difficult.”

“Right…” The stranger had a skeptical look on his features. With that same expression he turned in place, taking in their surroundings. “Do you know any pet stores that might be open this late?”

“Well, I just moved to London a week ago so I’m not really sure, but I doubt it.” The stranger let out a haughty click of his tongue in annoyance. “But I know a convenience store that probably has the basics for pet stuff, if you need.”

“A convenience store… I’ve never been in one of those.” And true to the sentiment, the word sounded foreign on his tongue, like he was testing out a new food. “Very well. Let’s get going.” 

The blond began walking, leaving Merlin with a frazzled look as he quickly scooped up the dog— Mimi, apparently— and hurried after him.

“What?”

“Let’s get going,” the man explained slower, as if it were the most simple thing in the world. “You know, to the convenience store. Surely you don’t expect me to find it on my own—I don’t even know what it looks like.”

Was he even from this planet?

“Just like any other store,” Merlin mumbled under his breath.

“What was that?”

“That my name is Merlin, by the way.”

“Ah, I’m Arthur. Arthur Pendragon.” The blond- that is, Arthur- gave him a look, as if expecting him to react in some way. When Merlin simply stared back at him the blond continued. “No? Arthur? You know, cover of  _ Town & Country  _ magazine? Top 50 Bachelors of London?”

“I read the comics section,” he offered with a shrug.

Arthur gave a sigh. “Nevermind. How far is this convenience store, again?”

“Oh. We’re actually going the wrong direction—it’s that way.” Merlin stopped and turned to their right.

“Well why didn’t you say so? Come on then, I don’t have all night.”

Only five minutes into their walk later and Merlin was already regretting his decision not to simply go straight home after his last round of interviews. He was rather sure that if it were physically possible to tap your foot impatiently while walking Arthur would be doing that.

“So… where did you get the dog?” He asked the question half out of curiosity and half to fill the silence between them.

“My sister, that is, my half-sister, left it— er, Mimi— suddenly in my flat tonight before her trip to the Caribbean. Apparently there was no one else to care for it— her.”

He didn’t sound all too pleased about it.

“I’m guessing you’ve never looked after a dog before.”

“Is it that obvious?”

Merlin couldn’t help but snort. They continued on in relative silence for another block or so, before a gust of wind brushed past them.

“I’m cold,” Arthur suddenly announced. 

“Okay?”

“I’m  _ cold,  _ ” he repeated deliberately, almost expectantly.

“Do you… want to stop for coffee?”

The blond let out a groan, running his hands through his strands of gold hair. “No! I told you we don’t have time to waste. The quicker I get this dog fed and asleep the quicker I can get back to normal. What I’m saying is,  _ I’m cold. ”  _ A pause. “Aren’t you going to offer me your jacket?”

Merlin shot him an incredulous look. “But then I’ll be cold.”

It was true that with another glance he could see the man wasn’t wearing anything substantial, his long-sleeved polo definitely not enough for London’s autumn. But he really expected Merlin to simply give over his coat? He had met the man only minutes ago, and yet there he was, looking indignantly at him, as if Merlin had just spat on his face and cursed his family.

He let out a sigh, reaching up to his neck.

“You can have my scarf.”

“What? No way I’m going to wear that atro—”

“Or I could just turn around and walk home.”

There was a moment of tense silence where the two simply stared at each other.

“It’s handmade by my mum?” Merlin offered with a shrug.

Arthur let out a groan. “Fine, fine, hand it over.” Grumpily he accepted it, wrapping the red length of fabric around his neck before letting it drape over his chest. He muttered out what Merlin chose to hear as a ‘thank you.’

 

* * *

 

 

He was going to rip out his hair. He really was. He’d rake his hands across his scalp and come out with tufts of black hair in between his fingers, and it would feel better than being around this man a second longer.

“Are you  _ sure  _ this food is safe? My sister would kill me if her dog got sick when she came back—it’s not going to give Mimi worms, is it?” 

“  _ No  _ Arthur, for the last time, this food is perfectly fine, and will  _ not  _ give your sister’s chihuahua worms. Can we go pay now?”

“Right. Fine. No need to be a soursop about it.” Arthur set the bag down and grabbed the one next to it which was, of course, the unnecessarily expensive one, these last thirty minutes had left Merlin drained and and done arguing. He was ready to go home, get scolded by Gaius for missing dinner, and knock out on his bed. It wasn’t his money being wasted.

The cashier scanned the items, giving them a bland look, and Arthur fished into his pocket. And then his other pocket. And then his back pockets.

“About that… could you get this? I left my wallet at home.”

Merlin, for what felt like the umpteenth time tonight, shot him an incredulous look. “You want me to pay.”

“I’ll pay you back.”

“It’s almost eighty pounds—you want me to pay eighty pounds for dog supplies, when I don’t even have a job yet, and I just met you? I don’t even know if I have enough on me!”

The cashier started grabbing the items to put them away.

“I’ll pay you back!” Arthur called out insistently, waving away the cashier’s attempt. “Listen, just come to my flat, I’ll pay you back, and then you never have to see me again okay? Not even on magazines, apparently” Arthur added with a mutter as Merlin pulled out his wallet, “since I guess there are adults who don’t even read the news sections.”

_ You have to be kidding me.  _ With a deep sigh (another record breaker in the sheer quantity of sighs and groans for one evening) Merlin handed over the last pounds he had in his wallet. Why was it, again, that a chihuahua needed the most expensive water bowls?

They left the store, Merlin still carrying the dog while Arthur carried the plastic bags. He couldn’t help but think that this man had better not be a fraud. Maybe this was some new kind of scam, the kind of con artists his mother had warned him to be wary of. 

But no, there was no way this man could be a conman. First and foremost, he was far too  _ pretty  _ to be roaming the streets for innocent people to scam, and secondly he was far too blunt. They were an hour into knowing each other and he had already criticized Merlin in five different ways.

“It shouldn’t be too far from here…”

Finally he followed Arthur through a set of doors, into a sleek looking lobby. There were plush cushions and metal beams, and Merlin stared in disbelief as a doorman gave them a polite nod. They made their way into the lift, an awkward silence hanging between them, and Merlin watched as the number of which floor they were on went up and up and up, until finally they stopped just two floors from the highest. Arthur got off casually and Merlin trailed behind, trying his best not to gawk as he was rather sure that the decorations in this hallway cost more than everything in Gaius’ house and his mother’s house combined.

This was definitely not a scam.

“Here we are, luckily I brought my keys with me…” He easily opened the door and pushed inside, and Merlin looked in wonder after him. “Oh, close the door before that dog tries to escape again.”

Everything was sleek, and polished, and clean. The living room space was grand, with a long white couch against the wall and a wide, flat screen TV across from it on a rug. To his right Merlin could see a kitchen with marble counters and three different types of coffee machines. 

Arthur seemed about to say something, but the sharp ring of his phone cut him off. He looked over at the counter where the phone lay, and seemed to tense. “Ah crap.” He looked over at Merlin. “Could you set those things up over there?” He gave a lazy point towards the far corner next to the couch. “I’ll pay you back after, I need to take this.”

Without even waiting for a response he picked up the phone and walked away from the room, leaving Merlin to shake his head and move the bags over to where he had been indicated.  _ Rich people,  _ he thought.

He quickly set up the dog bed that had already been sitting in the living room, and poured out a bit of food for good measure in the bowl. As soon as he was done Mimi happily trotted past him into the cushion, and promptly fell asleep. 

_ Even their dogs are snobbish.  _

 

* * *

 

 

“Yes. Yes. Of course. Good night.” 

With an annoyed huff Arthur hung up the call and pocketed his phone. He moved one hand up to rub slow circles into his temples, and shouldered his way out the door of his bedroom to the living room. He looked up with a start, the stress of his work having momentarily made him forget that he had invited a man into his living room. A man who was currently asleep.

Arthur took a few steps towards the couch, subconsciously trying his best to be quiet, and realized that like this, the stranger— that is, Merlin— barely looked like a man at all. Arthur had never been one to believe in cliches, but Merlin’s peaceful, sleeping face really did make him look indescribably young. 

For the first time that night, Arthur realized, he was able to get a good look at him— at the ink black hair spilling over his forehead, at the eyelashes hovering over his high, pale cheekbones like a fan of feathers. And for a moment, Arthur didn’t even realize Merlin’s dirty shoes were on his expensive carpet. He could only focus on just how long his legs looked, jutting out over the couch from where he slept in his sitting position, and how they seemed to stretch on and on.

He couldn’t be taller than Arthur was, and yet, most likely because of the thin, almost scrawny build of his body, he just seemed  _ longer.  _

A loud noise signaled Arthur was getting a text, and Merlin started awake at the sound. He scrambled around into an upright position, and his blue eyes were wide as he stared up at Arthur in half-awake confusion.

“Wh-wh— I’m awake I’m… Where am I, exactly?” He pushed his hair out of his face with a bony hand. 

“You’re in my flat, if you’ll recall,” Arthur replied blandly, “after getting knocked down by my sister’s chihuahua, and taking me to a…  _ convenience store, ”  _ Arthur tried not to shudder at the word. He looked down and saw that the text was from his sister— a picture of her and her girlfriend in the Caribbean. “Speak of the devil.” Though it was a cute enough photo he hadn’t gotten over his (albeit petty) annoyance at suddenly getting dumped a rat dog on. He gave a roll of his eyes and pocketed the phone, making sure to turn it on vibrate this time. 

“The convenience store called you?” Merlin asked, still staring at him with wide eyes from where he sat on the couch.

“What? No— how would they even— it’s my  _ sister,  _ nitwit.”

“Your sister… hey, wait,” he stood up, giving Arthur an accusing look, “you still owe me eighty pounds. That isn’t pocket change you know— not for most people, at least,” he added, giving a pointed look around the flat that Arthur chose to ignore. 

“Right, right, no need to work yourself up into a lather.” He reached over to the coffee table and grabbed his wallet, pulling out eighty pounds and handing them over to a skeptical-looking Merlin. “What? Do you want me to count them in front of you?”

“No, but… why were you watching me sleep?”

“What?” In his surprise, Arthur probably answered with probably a bit too much aggression. “I- I was not! I had just come back from a call with my office to find you draped around my couch like you live here,” his gaze fell to the floor, “with your filthy boots all over my freshly-cleaned white wool carpet!”

At his raised tone Merlin jumped off the carpet and stood on the marble floor, hands up in a show of innocence. “Alright, alright, sorry, I’ll just be going then,” he said with no small amount of annoyance. 

He was about to reach for the door when Arthur spotted the dog bed, and his own situation came crashing back to him. “Wait!” he called, and Merlin gave him a look like he was well and truly crazy— though with the way his night was going, he felt might as well be. He passed another hand over the bridge of his nose. He tried desperately to recall what Merlin had said earlier that evening. “You said you didn’t have a job yet, right? But you’ve been looking?”

“Yes…?”

“I can offer you one.” 

There was a beat of silence.

“You can?” Merlin asked, again disbelief and skepticism marking his tone.

Arthur tried not to give an annoyed sigh. “Yes, I can, now if you’ll just— close the door?” He did, and Arthur continued. “I don’t know if I mentioned this, but I’m a pretty busy man. I’m about to start a promotion, and I really can’t screw it up, but I also really can’t look after this dog. Rat dog. I mean, I don’t even have the first clue as to what to do,” Merlin gave a snort, “and I don’t have time to hire someone else. Could you just look after it, for the next week or two, until my sister gets back, or I find a replacement?” He reached over to grab a card on the table. “She left very specific instructions, so you shouldn’t have too hard a time following them.” 

Another beat. “You want me to look after your dog—”

“My sister’s dog,” he interjected.

“Your sister’s dog,” Merlin repeated, “until she gets back?” Arthur stared at him. “You just called me a nitwit!”

“Well,” Arthur half-muttered, “you were kind of being—” as Merlin made a show of pivoting back towards the door Arthur reached a hand out and grasped the man’s wrist. His skin was surprisingly warm. Merlin turned, one dark eyebrow raised high. “Wait— wait, okay okay.” He took a breath, not quite used to having to apologize. “I’m sorry I called you a nitwit. Could you do this for me? Just for a bit? I’ll pay well.”

Merlin gave him a hard look. “Only if you say please.”

Now it was his turn to be stunned. “What?”

“I’ll look after the dog, exactly like your sister wants, but you have to say please.”

“That’s childish—”

“I’m british, and so are you. I like manners.”

Arthur was about to protest, but the exhaustion of the night finally weighed on him. He wasn’t about to fight over bread crumbs. “Okay, okay. Merlin,” he looked him in the eyes, and could see that the man was surprised to hear Arthur use his first name. He had probably assumed Arthur had forgotten it. “Would you  _ please  _ watch my sister’s dog for me? I’d really appreciate it.”

To his surprise, Merlin broke out in a genuine smile. “I sure will.” 

For a moment, Arthur simply blinked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Comments and kudoses (kudosii? kudii?) are appreciated if you liked the work but obviously not required. And happy holidays (is it ironic I wrote this fic mainly in the middle of summer?)


	2. Chapter 2

 

He had only been watching Mimi for a short time—taking a train to the nice part of London three times a day to feed, water, walk, and do everything shy of a pedicure for this dog three times a day—and Merlin had already learned two important things about his employer.

First, while he may have been born into money, whatever else one might be able to say about the guy, Arthur Pendragon certainly worked hard to deserve the wealth and keep up the business-savvy reputation his family had maintained. Merlin realized rather quickly why the blond himself couldn’t watch the dog alone, beside the fact that the man had zero clue on how to take care of a living creature other than himself, and even then sometimes Merlin wondered: he didn’t work the typical nine-to-five job. He left every morning at seven-thirty and returned every night around nine. And, as it seemed to Merlin, when the blond actually was home he was usually shoving food in his face while churning out more emails or yelling at someone over the phone.

And secondly, Merlin learned that Arthur had a bit of a temper. He tried to excuse it as account of the man’s work schedule, or rich upbringing, but the two seemed to constantly bicker over the smallest of things. At least it was only ever small things, and at least the man had the decency to drop it if it went on for too long, or to apologize every so often. Merlin was quite sure Arthur Pendragon wasn’t at all used to apologizing, and even if he sometimes called him a rich pratt under his breath, that somehow made the sentiment of when he did apologize more meaningful.

But even so, after only a few days of work Merlin had to (begrudgingly) admit the man wasn’t so bad. He simply was a bit impatient, very stressed very often, and a bit of a snob. Well, a lot of a snob. But if he ever threw too many insults Merlin’s away he’d say sorry, he always paid him back for anything he needed to buy Mimi, and most importantly he always left food in the fridge for Merlin to take if he wanted. Getting to eat leftover steaks or shepherd’s pie from the expensive bakery nearby? Yes please. The man may at times be obnoxious, but Merlin knew he had a heart of gold, even if Arthur seemingly hated to show it.

“Merlin, you pillock! The dog scratched up my satin blanket again! If you can’t even keep it from destroying my belongings then what the bloody hell did I hire you for?”

Or, well, maybe a heart of bronze.

With a sigh Merlin put Mimi down and made his way over to where Arthur stood at the door frame, looking at the victimized blanket. It had a few tears at the corner that had dipped over the bed and spilled onto the floor.

“Do you have a sewing kit somewhere? I can fix it.” The blond shot him an incredulous look. “When you’re raised by a single working mother you learn how to help around. Just tell me where it is.”

Arthur paused. “I’m not entirely sure, I’ve never seen it myself but I think my last maid said it was under the second drawer to the left of the mirror.”

Just as Merlin made his way to the bathroom, out of his eye he caught a look Arthur was giving him that almost seemed like respect. The moonlight through the window and the dim lights of the bedroom weren’t much to go by, though, and so he couldn’t be sure if he hadn’t just imagined it. With the kit in question now in hand Merlin sat himself on the bed (noting somewhat bitterly, and with a small amount of jealousy, just how plush and large the mattress was), and took the ripped part of the fabric in hand. He threaded the needle quickly and went to work.

Though he tried not to let it show, he was hyper-aware of the blond still leaning in the door frame with his large arms crossed, staring at him as he worked. Merlin let out a wince as he pricked his finger on the needle.

“Be careful, will you? I don’t want blood staining my sheets, and I don’t want you to make the stitching messy.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Merlin couldn’t help retorting, “should I hire the Queens’ tailor for you?”

“We wouldn’t even have to be doing this if you had kept that dog under better control.”

“’We’? You’re not doing anything!” Merlin began sewing angrily as his emotions affected him. “And it’s not my fault that you don’t make your bed, and it’s not my fault you refuse to get the doggie door fence to keep her from coming to this part of the house.”

“I told you, as soon as my sister comes back in town I’m shipping this dog straight back to its cozy home—I don’t want this to affect me more than it already has, and I am not putting in any of those— those ghastly fences.”

 _“Fwell I amf not yer maid.”_ Merlin’s speech, though just as annoyed, was muffled by the string held between his teeth after his final knot, winding it through his fingers and giving it a pull to snap the extra string off. He sat the blanket back down (properly off the floor this time) with a satisfied pat.

He looked up to see Arthur giving a roll of his eyes, though there was no real malice behind it. “And that’s a good thing, too, because you’d make a bloody terrible one—no pun intended.”

The man strode out of the room, and Merlin felt his face go hot. He followed him through the hallway, pointing his finger at him for emphasis. “Oh yeah?! Well you- uh- you’d be missing out! I look fantastic in a dress!”

Arthur spun to give him an incredulous stare.

“I, uh… not that I would know from experience, but. You know. Probably.” He did know from experience, actually, but of course Arthur didn’t have to know that.

Thankfully he was spared from the rest of this conversation by a telephone somewhere else in the flat giving a shrill ring. Arthur went to go answer it, and Merlin sat himself on the couch, scratching behind Mimi’s ear with one hand and pushing back thick locks of his black hair out of his face with another. He liked to think he was a well-raised boy, who knew how to show manners and how to be polite, but there was something about Arthur that grinded his gears and made him speak whatever was on his mind—as well as make a total ass of himself.

It was probably the easy confidence the blond businessman always exuded that made Merlin more susceptible to voicing his thoughts, however rude they may be, as well as the fact that though he scowled or retorted, Arthur never seemed to actually mind that Merlin spoke back at him.

“No! Don’t send the press statement yet, you idiot!” Arthur’s voice rang out through the flat. “We haven’t even closed the deal yet, of course we can’t tell the reporters about it!”

It was the first time since the night he was hired that he was around Arthur for this long a time. Though he came three times a day, the blond was usually working and too busy to spare him more than a minute as he rushed out the door in the mornings, or he came home just as Merlin was leaving. He even worked over the weekend, though Merlin assumed this wasn’t a regular thing. Arthur had mentioned to him once or twice that his work was at the moment especially hectic. Tonight though, accord to his annoyed mutterings, his father had apparently insisted on Arthur taking an early day, and he had come home exhausted and grumbling to find Merlin refilling the food bowl.

Though Merlin didn’t really have to stay, having finished his dog-related responsibilities for the evening, he felt compelled to. He had always had the ability to read people’s emotions rather well, and he somehow had the feeling that Arthur didn’t want to be alone just yet. And so far the blond hadn’t kicked him out, so he assumed he was on the right track.

He was shaken out of his thoughts by a phone being slammed on the counter and a sudden thumping weight on the couch next to him. Arthur all but huffed as he crossed his arms and kicked his feet up on the glass coffee table.

_Rich people._

“How my father expects me to keep the business thriving will working with these incompetent idiots is beyond me. I mean really!”

Not sure how to respond, Merlin simply remained quiet, rubbing circles on Mimi’s head.

“I have an assistant who can’t even sign his emails properly, interns who don’t seem to have the basic knowledge of how to order a blasted coffee, even less properly sort files, and PR agents who think that they should publicize what socks I’ll be wearing next Tuesday.” With a final angry wave of his hands he seemed to come back to himself, and sighed.

“Sorry,” Arthur turned to him, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “I don’t mean to drag you into this. Is the rat do—I mean, is Mimi doing fine?” Merlin couldn’t help shooting him a slightly surprised look. “I might not be a fan of small dogs, but I would never hear the end of it from my sister if anything happened to it. It’s important to her. And it’s not the dog’s fault she was dumped on me at the wrong time.”

His tone was surprisingly genuine. Merlin found himself smiling slightly. “Don’t worry, she’s definitely fine.” He gave a bigger grin, and Arthur’s blue-eyed gaze turned suspicious. “I know something to take your mind off of everything.”

With one eyebrow raised, and the most deadpan, bored look Merlin had ever seen in his life, Arthur crossed his arms again. “Do go on.”

Merlin was decidedly not deterred. “We need to clip her nails. I was going to take her to the groomer tomorrow to do it, but it’ll be a lot cheaper this way and much faster.”

“Money isn’t an issue, I don’t see why you just can’t—"

“Come on,” Merlin said, finding some stupid, unknown source of courage and temerity in him, reaching to grab Arthur by the hand and drag him up off the couch. “Nail trimmers came in the pack of dog essentials we bought the other night, and it won’t take longer than a minute. It’ll keep you distracted.”

“Ugh.”

As they sat down on the carpet and signaled the dog over, Merlin wasn’t sure if he was more persuasive than he gave himself credit for, or if Arthur was really so tired that he didn’t have the energy to argue. Either way, the blond barely protested as Merlin instructed him to keep the dog gently between his knees and hold one of her paws up with both hands as Merlin got the clippers.

“This is ridiculous,” Arthur said, though alight of amusement flickered in his eyes. “Are we going to paint her nails next?”

“We could! Nail polish came in the pack too.” Arthur shot him another shocked stare. “Kidding. Kidding!” He shook his head as Merlin moved on to the next paw. It may have been their proximity, or continuing off this new-found courage, but Merlin found himself speaking without being too afraid of a personal question. “You said the dog came at a bad time. What do you mean?”

At the short silence that followed Merlin momentarily looked up from his task, only to find that same blue gaze studying him. He gave a wry half-smile. “I can’t imagine you’re this stressed all the time.”

After a slight sigh and a halfhearted attempt at matching his smile, Arthur finally spoke. “No, I’m not.” His voice was low and calm between the _click click_ sounds the clippers made as Merlin trimmed away, the dog calmly letting it all happen with what he swore was the canine equivalent of a bored look.

“It’s my father,” the blond finally explained. “I’ve been working in his company for years, and along each step of the way from being an intern I’ve had to put in twice the amount of effort to prove that I didn’t just get where I am out of nepotism.” Arthur’s grip shifted as they moved to the hind legs. “He’s finally giving me the chances to really prove myself, with a promotion starting on Monday— bloody hell, starting tomorrow— to a high-level position, and he’s trying to throw every curve ball at me that he can. Every incompetent intern, every difficult client, every mild inconvenience—just to prove his point that I’m not ready yet, and that I have to wait a few more years. It’s like he _wants_ me to fail.”

Merlin spared a glance up at him, and saw the blond was biting his lip, a furrowed, grave, slightly distant expression on his features. Something in him made Merlin speak again, made him want to give words of comfort. “Well that’s fine, right?” Arthur looked up at him, confused. “It’ll just be all the more proof that you really _are_ ready when you overcome not only the big challenges but whatever else he throws at you as well. You’ll just keep working hard and he won’t be able to deny your right to the company.”

The blond’s eyes were slightly wide as he continued to look at him, and Merlin felt no small amount of pride at finally rendering the man speechless. He simply finished cutting the dog’s nails, and set the last paw down with a grin. “Done.” He held his gaze for a bit longer before Arthur’s lips broke into a genuine, slightly lopsided grin.

Merlin couldn’t put a name to it, but something passed through them as they continued to stare at each other, as his pulse quickened slightly.

With a clearing of his throat Arthur stood, brushing dog fur off his pants, and offered a hand to Merlin. “Well, it took you long enough. Hopefully Her highness Mimi is taken care of for the night? Or should I go draw her majesty a bath?”

“Only if you don’t forget the bath salts and rose petals.” Merlin gave a laugh, even as the other chucked a nearby pillow at him.

 

* * *

 

Arthur wasn’t a naturally nervous person. He wasn’t. No, he was a very calm, collected person, who was always able to keep a cool head when others depended on him to lead. He just had to keep reminding himself that as he paced up and down his office, picking up every object on his sleek desk, running his calloused thumbs over it a few times, and then placing it back down.

Over, and over, and over again.

It wasn’t him, he told himself, it was the situation. His father, who Arthur knew only wanted the best for him but who was being an absolute ass at the current moment, had already set his morning off to a bad start by sending a few employees—ones that were key to Arthur’s meeting today—home with “the sickness that’s been going around,” forgetting to ask the intern to restock the coffee in the break room, and accidentally forgetting to remind Arthur that he had called the tech maintenance team to come and install new smart boards today.

Uther was really throwing everything he could at him, but the blond could only remind himself of what Merlin had said. These obstacles just made the hill he had to conquer all the taller—and all the more glorious when he proved his father wrong. He was going to make a great boss.

_Merlin._

Arthur realized he had actually been standing still for the past few minutes. He glanced over at the chair by his desk for a moment before sitting in it.

_Maybe I should—_

His phone buzzed and he reached into the pocket of his well-tailored pants to pull it out, glancing at the screen to see that it was a message from the very object of his thoughts. The corner of his lip twitched as he easily unlocked the phone. Arthur couldn’t help a laugh, and he didn’t even realize the shit-eating grin that was on his face as he typed back.

**[TEXT] Mimi’s Chew Toy**

Look what we picked up at the shop today

[ IMAGE.JPG ](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/76/fd/9e/76fd9e9cbb59ba147a522206beda789e.jpg)

**[TEXT] Pri(ck)nce Arthur**

Please tell me you didn’t actually put clothes on a dog

Even if Mimi barely counts as a dog

**[TEXT] Mimi’s Chew Toy**

I did and it’s adorable

It’s also finally December, so I put her in the ChriStMAs spiRIt~~

 **[TEXT]** P **ri(ck)nce Arthur**

It’s like 20+ days until Christmas

You should be fined

That should be a crime

**[TEXT] Mimi’s Chew Toy**

I used the credit card you left on the counter so it’ll be in your name

**[TEXT] Pri(ck)nce Arthur**

I’ll be framed for this horrible atrocity

I can already see the headlines, “Handsome Young Company Executive Puts Clothing on Dogs, Publicly Exiled”

**[TEXT] Mimi’s Chew Toy**

Who says you’re handsome?

**[TEXT] Pri(ck)nce Arthur**

I could still fire you

**[TEXT] Mimi’s Chew Toy**

In that case you’re the most handsome man alive

**[TEXT] Pri(ck)nce Arthur**

Thank you.

…

I’ll make sure to forward that to my sister though, I know she’ll appreciate the picture

**[TEXT] Mimi’s Chew Toy**

Want me to take some more often and send them to? So you can show her that her dog is alive and well, and in good hands (AKA mine)

**[TEXT] Pri(ck)nce Arthur**

… That’s actually not a horrible idea

**[TEXT] Mimi’s Chew Toy**

I think that’s a compliment… sort of… so I’m gonna take it

**[TEXT] Pri(ck)nce Arthur**

Crap

Ttyl first big meeting is about to start

He wasn’t sure why, but even as his harried assistant came in to give him the five minute warning, Arthur couldn’t help but stand by his desk, awaiting Merlin’s next response. He almost became impatient, watching the typing bubble remain there for much so long, but any annoyance vanished when the text finally came in.

**[TEXT] Mimi’s Chew Toy**

Good luck, but you won’t need it. Just remember to stay calm, not give your dad any sort of the negative reaction that he’s looking for, and remind them just how ready you are to be boss. Also, try to keep the insulting to a minimum. Doesn’t work too well for a business

**[TEXT] Pri(ck)nce Arthur**

Thanks.

Don’t worry, I’ll save all my insults for you.

**[TEXT] Mimi’s Chew Toy**

I’m counting on it.

 

Arthur didn’t even realize he was smiling softly at the phone until the assistant came back inside.

“Sir? Three minutes until the—”

“Yes, yes, keep your hat on, I’ll be right there.”

He put the phone on silent, pocketed it, and strode outside of the office. Arthur was slightly surprised to note that the earlier traces of his nerves had vanished, leaving an easy, confident calm washing over him. He’d show them all that he could do this—especially his father, and his dog-sitter.

 

* * *

 

 

“Yeah, I should be home in time. I’m walking Mimi right now, and I have to check on her again later, but I’ll go straight home right after. Thank you for inviting me over for dinner again, Gaius.”

“You know it’s no problem.” Merlin didn’t have to see him to know the man was smiling his kindhearted smile on the other end of the line. “And anyway you know your mother would be severely upset with me if she found out you weren’t getting three proper meals a day.”

Merlin chuckled. “Well, I think my—Mimi, come on, over here—sorry. I think my interview went well this morning, so hopefully I’ll have a steady job soon enough that I can invite _you_ to dinner.”

“That would certainly be a treat. Well, get back to it. We wouldn’t want Mimi to run off again.

Merlin couldn’t help muttering, “I’m quite sure Arthur would have my head.”

A light chuckle. “Get home safe.”

“I will.” Merlin smiled as he hung up the call. He made sure to pull his jacket extra tightly over himself as he pocketed his phone, and smiled down at the small dog. “Come on now,” he mumbled, nudging her away from a spot she had been staring at for a few minutes.

He only had to continue this job for a few more weeks, but the more Merlin thought about it the more he realized that chance encounter, though it led to him scraping his hands rather roughly, had been something of a lucky break. He had been Mimi’s official dog sitter for only a little over two weeks, and none of his other jobs had come through so far. Luckily his landlord, Gaius, was a close family friend of his mother, and was always patient and lenient… but he hoped he’d be able to pay steadily, soon. Not that this job didn’t pay well enough, for now. _Rich people really pay an absurd amount of money for things,_ he thought not for the first time, as he turned to walk back towards Arthur’s apartment.

His phone buzzed again, and he briefly wondered if Gaius had forgotten something. To his surprise, the caller ID signaled it was Arthur.

“Hello?”

“Oh good, you picked up. I need you to do me a favor.” The blond’s voice didn’t sound particularly annoyed… It was more along the lines of tired. He could practically hear Arthur pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Okay…?”

“Almost all of my assistants are still home sick, and I shouldn’t send them off to do non-work related things anyway, so I need you to help me.”

“I’m not starting a fan club for you.”

“I need you to—what!?” Merlin hoped Arthur couldn’t hear his slight snicker. “Could you be serious? You only have a few hours.”

“Okay, okay, what is it?”

“I need you to go to the grocery store and grab some platters. And then go to the store and pick up some Christmas decorations. And then hang them up for me…”

“What? Arthur, you don’t even have a tree.”

The blond gave a sigh. “I know. You don’t have to worry about the that, my friends are bringing one as a tradition, but please do the rest?” Merlin was just surprised to hear him say ‘please’ without sounding like it was being dragged from his mouth with nails. “I forgot I promised my mates we’d celebrate tonight, and they’ll get all fussy if there’s no decorations. Just use my card to buy anything, and I’ll pay you for the extra hours.”

Extra hours… he liked Christmas anyway, and it shouldn’t be too difficult. He had always wanted to go inside of a store and just buy a heap load of things without worrying about the price, and maybe with the extra pay he could take Gaius out to dinner sooner. He realized quickly Arthur was waiting for a response.

“Sure, yeah. I’ll do it. Any particular store you like?”

Arthur let out a sigh of relief over the line. “Thanks. No, anywhere. Just… please don’t make it look _too_ tacky? My friends wouldn’t ever let me live it down.”

Merlin smiled wryly. “I’ll try my best.”

“Oh, and for the platters, just get one of those that has lots of ham and turkey and whatever else. Just make sure you get plenty of beer—but the good kind. Price doesn’t matter, don’t get that cheap piss water.”

As he turned down the street to head in the direction of the nearest grocery store, Merlin kept himself from making a comment about how eloquent Arthur’s phrases were, for someone that was supposedly part of the ‘upper class’.

“Oh, and Merlin? You can, uh, stay. For the party afterwards. If you want.”

Merlin almost stopped walking in surprise.

“—I’ll look over the emails in a minute. Just a minute. Anyway, my friends are rambunctious and stupid,” Arthur sighed again. “But they’re always a heap of fun. And nice. You’ll probably get along. And if you don’t you can spill beer over yourself and make a break for it. I’ll admit to having done that once or twice.”

He smiled again. “Sure thing. But if I’m staying I’m grabbing eggnog.”

Arthur, apparently being the king of sighs, let out another one, though this time it was resigned and slightly humored. “Do what you must.”

The call ended, and his day found itself going in another surprising direction as he made his way to the market and texted Gaius that he’d have to make a rain check for the dinner. If his life was full of one thing these days, it was Arthur and the many surprises he brought.

 

* * *

 

 

Arthur’s Roomba ( _Really,_ Merlin thought, _who even has a Roomba?_ ) blasted Christmas music and picked up stray dust as Merlin put the finishing touches on the wreath hanging outside the apartment door. He went over his mental checklist, and with a small sense of satisfaction and a strong can-do spirit he realized the only thing he had left to do was hang up the Christmas lights around the connecting walls between the kitchen and the living room.

He whistled along to the jaunty music as he balanced precariously on the latter and strung the lights, getting almost halfway through when the doorbell rang. Merlin looked over at the clock on the wall and swore internally.

He could hear chatter on the other side before there was a series of loud bangs, and a voice called out, “Come on Arthur! I’m naked and I don’t want your neighbors to keep staring at me.”

He nearly choked on air.

“One—one moment!” Merlin hesitated, frozen in place, before deciding to just leave the lights hanging half-done and clambering down the step ladder towards the door. His hand paused just over the doorknob. After a deep breath, he opened it.

Four men—thankfully all fully clothed— carrying decorative boxes greeted him with loud cheers, and already started pushing their way in before he could even register their faces.

“I brought drinks,” the one who had spoken through the door said, already moving to set the boxes down.

“And we brought what you actually asked for: tree decorations,” another one said, this one tall with brown-ginger curls falling over his face.

The men—half of whom were taller than him and half of whom were shorter, Merlin noted—stopped after a few seconds and gave him questioning glances.

“You’re not Arthur,” The original one said, one thick eyebrow lifted upwards.

“And you’re not naked,” Merlin found himself saying.

The man gave a bark of a laugh, and then shot him a wink. “Sorry to disappoint.”

Merlin felt his face go hot. One of the men, the shortest, with dark skin and kind eyes, shoved the first one playfully, a look of annoyance marked in his features. “Oh shut up.” To Merlin’s own relief when the man turned to him he gave a slight smile. “Ignore him. I’m Elyan. This pain in everyone’s side is Gwaine.” Gwaine, who was now in a headlock under the tallest man’s arm, gave a friendly wave, despite his position.

“Mister Muscles here,” Gwaine motioned up to the man who’s forearm was around his neck, “is Percy, and Mister Serious Face over there is Leon. And you, if I can repeat myself, are still not Arthur.”

Arthur had said his friends were rambunctious, but it was more than that—there was just something almost bizarre about how they held themselves, about how confident (and good-looking, Merlin recognized with a slightly jealous, bitter thought) they were and how close they seemed to be. All four of them seemed so comfortable in their own skin, in the way they walked and the way they spoke, that Merlin found himself a bit thrown off by it. Perhaps he had spent too much time this afternoon stressing over the decorations to really prepare himself for meeting new people—and even more so people Arthur considered friends.

Leon stepped forward, and it was true that the lines of his face were set very seriously as he held out a hand and politely gave Merlin’s hand, which was currently limp from shock, a good shake. “I assume Arthur told you we were coming?”

“If not that would be bloody awkward,” Elyan murmured under his breath.

Merlin finally came back to himself with a start, and shook back Leon’s hand vigorously. “Yes, yeah! Don’t worry, he told me. He actually asked me to prepare this for you guys—well, this,” he gave a gesture around the room as he rambled, “sorry that it’s not quite finished yet.”

Leon smiled again, almost diplomatically. “That’s very like him. I’m guessing he’s still working?” Merlin nodded. “Anything we can help with?”

Merlin felt his eyes widen. “Oh, if you could that’d be great. I just have to set out the food and finish hanging up the lights.”

“I’ll handle those,” Percy’s deep voice rang out for the first time, and he easily made his way to the half-hung lights, barely needing the step ladder.

With surprising efficiency Leon went to the fridge to bring out the food, Gwaine went to the pantries to find the platters, and Elyan went to the boxes they had brought and started unpacking them, revealing tree decorations like Arthur had said.

At Merlin’s raised eyebrow, Elyan gave a half-smile. “Don’t worry, there’s more of us. Lance is coming with the tree.”

Merlin nodded, and smiled back as he looked around the now lively apartment. He went over to the Roomba to change the music, and when he stood up again realized he didn’t really have anything else to do. He couldn’t help nervously scratching the back of his head, letting the black strands fall through his fingers. “Thank you for this. The shops were surprisingly full, and then Mimi got upset at another dog and took a long time to walk back home, so I must have lost track of time.”

At the name of the dog, who currently lay comfortably in her plush bed a few meters away from where he stood, the men stopped whatever they had been doing and regarded him with newfound interest. Merlin did his best not to wither under their gazes. Silence, except for the now more festive tunes playing, reigned among them.

Somewhat surprisingly, Percy broke the silence. “You’re Mimi’s dog sitter?”

Merlin started. “Oh, right! Sorry I- I haven’t introduced myself have I? Yeah, I’m Merlin, I’ve been watching Arthur’s dog—Arthur’s sister’s dog, to be exact—for the past few days now.”

The men burst out into varying degrees of loud laughter, and for a moment Merlin simply stared in confusion, the edges of his lips lifting upwards in the contagious nature of their friendliness. “What? What is it?”

Leon reached over and gave him a heavy clamp on the shoulder, making Merlin smile tentatively again. “No, nothing, you’re just very different than what we expected.”

He blinked. “What do you mean?”

Gwaine looked over from where he was, a devilish grin playing over his features. “Well, actually, you’re just as handsome as Arthur described.”

Merlin felt his face go hot again, except this time he swore the blood under his cheeks boiled. He thanked all heavens above that he was excused from having to respond by Arthur making an appearance, the blond shoving through the door, carrying a ridiculous amount of bags.

“Could you lot not leave my door wide open, please? The last thing I want is everyone on the floor peering into my personal business—are you alright Merlin? Did you catch the flu?” His gaze turned accusatory, as he waved a reprimanding finger in Merlin’s direction, though the seriousness was negated by the happy attitude of the room. “You better not have drank all the booze I asked you to buy.”

Merlin shook himself. “What? No—god no, I’m fine. Sorry, just, ah, you know, the wind was cold outside.” He adjusted the collar of his shirt, glad that no one in the room was privy to knowing he had been inside the toasty apartment for the past few hours, and no where near the biting wind.

Arthur gave a shrug and set everything down, and then the room threw itself back into merry noise. They all helped with setting up the last of the decorations and food, so it was done in a flash. Beer was cracked open, backs were patted, and Merlin found himself smiling softly to himself as the others treated each other like a band as thick as thieves. He was even happier to find that Arthur’s grumpy tendencies were not seen in his friends—they all treated Merlin like they had already been friends for years, and no one was seen without a smile on his face.

Soon there was another knock on the door, and Arthur went to go grab it. Cheers rang out as a man wrangled in a Christmas tree, and soon he (who was currently too hidden by the pine needles for Merlin to see the face of), with the help of Percy and Arthur, brought it into the living room. A woman closed the door behind him, a bright smile on her face.

“Oh, Arthur!” She clasped her hands together as she looked over the flat. “These decorations are beautiful!”

“I didn’t do it,” he called out from where he stood adjusting the tree. “Merlin did.”

Merlin watched as the woman’s eyes scanned over the room to spot him, and he was guessing he was the only one there she hadn’t yet met, and she stepped forward to give him a firm handshake of her own. “Oh, I must have known.” She leaned close with a friendly, conspiratorial grin punctuating her whisper, “Arthur doesn’t have it in him to be this jolly and festive.”

Merlin let out a laugh.

“My name is Gwen. I’m the sister of—” she pointed at Elyan once she spotted him. “That one. Though that’s neither of our faults.”

He laughed again. “I’m Merlin.”

“Oh! You must be the one looking after Mimi!” He nodded, and was surprised to see guilt pass through her gaze. “I’m sorry, I would have looked after her myself, but with moving in with Lance and everything it’s been such a mess.”

“Oh no,” he waved his hands in front of himself dismissively. “Don’t worry. I was actually having no luck finding a job before this came along, so it was just at the right time.”

She gave a knowing smile over where the dog still lay resting. “Mimi’s a good dog, too.”

“Do you know Morgana?”

She looked back over at him with surprise, as if just remembering that she had only met him a few minutes ago, and thus didn’t know anything about her. “Oh, yes, I actually met Arthur, and then everyone else, through her. Speaking of which, where’s—ah, there.” Gwen smiled particularly fondly over her shoulder towards the man who had brought in the tree.

Merlin felt his heart stop, before a broad, incredulous smile spread itself over his face. “Lance? Lance!”

The man made eye contact with him, and quickly handed what he was doing to a confused-looking Arthur before striding over. When Merlin went to grab his arm Lance pulled him into a hug instead, and when they pulled back their grins mirrored each other with school-boy friendliness.

“Merlin! It’s been so long—when did you come to London?”

“It’s only been a few weeks. I’m sorry I didn’t call you, I would’ve if I knew you were here. I thought you were still living in Bristol?”

“I’ve been moving between the two for a while now, but I recently decided to just stay put here.”

“And we’re all glad for it,” Arthur said, hands now free as he brushed his pants clean and stepped closer towards them.

Gwen went to squeeze Lance’s arm, and Percy came forward to give him a clasp on the shoulder.

“Men! Lady!” Gwaine called out ceremoniously, handing a beer to whoever in the group didn’t currently have one. “The tree is ready, let the decorating commence.” As they all walked forward, Gwaine seemed to notice Merlin wasn’t moving, and slung his arm around his shoulder, bringing him forward. “Don’t shy away, Merlin,” he gave an easy-going grin, “this might be your first time, but it’s a tradition for us to decorate the tree. You’re part of it now.”

Merlin felt himself glowing with a strange sense of pride. “Thanks,” he said somewhat quietly, and Gwaine’s smile turned softer. Merlin looked up and saw Arthur giving him something of a strange expression.

 

* * *

 

 

The table with decorations on it carefully dragged closer to the tree, they all encircled it and began decorating with lively cheers. Even as he enjoyed the company of his friends, Arthur couldn’t help but be distracted, mainly by how close Lance and Merlin were. And not just with the easy laughs that Merlin kept giving, or the broad grins, or the way conversation moved so easily between them, but actually, physically close. At this current moment Merlin was actually ducked underneath Lance,s arms, the latter arching upwards to hang something tall and the former reaching under to hang something on the other side.

What was so difficult about just going _around_ a person, instead of _through_ them?

There was a moment where Lance shifted his arms to reach something in front of him, and basically had his arms wrapped like a hula hoop around Merlin. Arthur hadn’t even realized he was staring until his friend said something particularly funny, and Merlin nudged his shoulder against Lance’s arms as he laughed.

Arthur felt something in his stomach drop, felt the skin against his neck and along his arms turn red, and though it was a strange and ridiculous response towards Merlin— who he had only known for two weeks— Arthur was currently too wrapped up in the feeling to try to name it, was too wrapped up in the feeling to even recognize it. His body just moved on auto as he found himself unable to focus on anything else.

“How long have you two known each other?” His own voice sounded loud and obtrusive to his ears, accidentally cutting through any other conversations his friends were having as they all turned their attention to him. He gave something of a chuckle, and tried to make a casual hand gesture to where they stood, still wrapped around each other like twizzlers, to diffuse the situation. For some reason he felt winded. “I mean— there’s no way you just met for the first time today. It took Merlin a week to look me in the eye, and you two are as close as old rugby mates.” He cringed at himself.

Merlin gave something of an embarrassed chuckle and— finally— disentangled himself to stand upright next to Lance. “Yeah we- we know each other.”

Lance gave his usual easy smile. “You know how I’ve moved around a lot— when I was young I moved to Merlin’s town— I moved back and forth, but we went to the same schools on and off.” He shared something of a fond look with Merlin, the kind reserved for childhood memories and close family.

“We were best friends,” Merlin added.

Lance’s smile turned slightly wry, grin twitching against the fuzz around his jaw. “Though he got in trouble _all_ the time.”

“Really?” Gwaine let out an incredulous laugh, reminding Arthur with something of a start that there was a crowd in his flat.

“Oh yeah,” Lance said as he went back to hanging ornaments, just giving another fond look as Merlin elbowed him.

The conversations easily picked up again, but Arthur felt the dull pain of a headache settling over him. He felt exhausted. Gwen was happily talking to Merlin with renewed interest, no doubt excited at the new source of information on her boyfriend’s childhood. Arthur’s gaze fell on Merlin, who was smiling along, even as a blush stood out against the stark brush of his dark hair.

Suddenly the room felt all to warm, and his pulse all too loud, and the chatter of the room felt overbearing. He wasn’t sure what possessed him, but Arthur was already setting things down and moving briskly to grab his keys from the kitchen by the time his brain caught up to his body.

“Where are you going, Arthur?” Leon asked with clear confusion.

Still in motion he absently scanned over the coats and sweaters scattered around his flat to find his. “I just remembered I have to urgently get something for Mimi— we ran out of her food and need it for tomorrow morning,” he spoke while moving about with that nervous energy, shrugging on his coat and chucking a second one over at Merlin.

“You need to get it now?” Elyan shot him a puzzled look as Arthur grabbed Merlin by the wrist, barely giving the guy enough time to set down the ornaments he had been holding before he was basically out the door.

Arthur gave a casual wave of his hand. “Yeah, have to. You know how Morgana will get if there’s anything wrong with her dog, and only Merlin knows the diet food she needs. Be back in a bit.”

His friends stared in confusion after them even as the door closed with a thud. Arthur dropped Merlin’s hand and kept walking, and they were both completely silent as the lift made its descent, light ‘dings’ acting as the only kind of noise.

The lift was halfway to the lobby when Merlin finally broke the silence. “Are you going to explain to me why I’m suddenly following you into London’s winter streets at night, or am I supposed to believe the lie about Mimi’s special diet food?”

At his continued silence, Merlin asked again, “Well?” they strode into the lobby.

Finally when they were through the doors the shock of cold air gave Arthur the jolt back to reality he needed. He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, giving a sigh and pinching the bridge of his nose, unable to ignore the pointed question Merlin was staring into his skull.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered. That seemed to surprise Merlin enough, the apprehension leaving his posture. “I don’t know what came over me.” Arthur threw his hands up to the night sky, energy seeping back into him. “I really don’t! One moment I was glad you and my friends were getting along, the next there was sweat all over my skin and the room felt hot, and I just knew I had to leave.”

“I know how that feels.” Merlin put a hand against his shoulder, and for whatever reason Arthur could feel the tension slowly drain out of him. He stuffed his hand into his pockets and Merlin’s hand dropped casually. There was a small smile on his face, a small dimple poking out against his cheek. Quickly it shifted back, but this time it was a simple, genuinely puzzled look. “Why, though?”

They started walking again, and Merlin stroked his bare chin, his full brows marking his concentration. Honestly Arthur wasn’t too sure himself.

“Was the AC too warm?” Arthur shook his head. “Was the music too loud?” Another shake. “Did you have too much to drink?”

Arthur gave a snort.

“All right, was the space too small? The tree too big? Are you nervous about something coming up at your work?”

Arthur rolled his head back, giving a groan. “I don’t know, I don’t know! There was just—” he gave a futile wave of his hand, trying to put his feelings into words (something, admittedly, he didn’t have a track record of being very good at). “Everyone was so huddled together, and you and Lance just suddenly seemed so close, and you smiled at him when you barely ever even laugh at my jokes, and you were basically hugging, and—”

“Oh my god.” Merlin stopped in his tracks, blue eyes staring widely as Arthur turned around a few steps ahead to face him. “Arthur are you-” he sounded like he couldn’t believe it himself. “Are you jealous?”

“What!?” The blond sputtered. “No! That is ridiculous why would I— take that look off your face! You work for me! Why would I be jealous?”

Merlin gave him a huge grin, “You’re blushing! You are!”

“Am not!” But even with his indignant protests he could feel his cheeks flush vibrantly against the biting wind. “It’s just cold! And anyway, I have no need to be jealous, you’re my sister’s dog watcher for Christ’s sake—”

Merlin’s gleeful look remained undeterred and Arthur turned to keep walking, glad despite himself when he heard Merlin’s footsteps crunch against the snow as he jogged back next to him.

“Aww,” the man with dark black hair drawled, that mirthful tone in his voice, “and here I was thinking we were best friends.”

Arthur liked to think that he usually had at least some amount of self control, and some amount of sensibility, but today (or maybe, just around this man), that all seemed to be flying out the window. He couldn’t stop himself from responding genuinely, even if Merlin had only been teasing. Blood still pumping from the heat of his indignance, his tone came out a bit more loudly than he would have hoped, rushing through his sentence like it was the last stretch of a marathon.

“Well, I _do_ consider you a friend, even if we’ve only known each other for two weeks and I—” he could see Merlin gaping at him out of the corner of his eye, and to Arthur’s total dismay he could feel his blush starting back up again, but he did his best to finish the sentence. “I don’t know, it’s stupid. It just felt weird to see you two so close, when I’ve never seen you that way with anyone, let alone me. And I know he’s dating Gwen, and I know just because you two are close doesn’t mean anything, but I just,” not being used to rambling, Arthur just ended his sentence with a frustrated wave of his hand.

They walked along in silence, and Arthur was about to backtrack on everything he just said with a heavy helping of denial, but Merlin spoke up first

“Lance and I have been friends forever, and he’s a great person.” His voice was soft, and Arthur glanced over. From this short distance he could see Merlin’s bright blue eyes were staring at the ground in front of him in thought. But even more than that could see again just how long his lashes were. “So we’ve been through a lot together. Helped each other through a lot.”

“You two have a history together.” Arthur absently noticed his own voice was finally calm and even again, but he was more focused on Merlin’s profile. It was the first time he really got to stare, and Merlin’s gaze was far away, seeing some things from his past that Arthur couldn’t. Oddly, he found himself wanting to know about all of it— anything Merlin would tell him.

Merlin nodded, slowly, though his expression was open and genuine. “Yeah, I guess so. But, and not that it’s any of your business,” finally he looked over at Arthur, and gave him something of a wry smirk (an expression that sent Arthur’s heart pounding, though since he couldn’t figure out why he just chalked it up to surprise), “it’s a family kind of history. Lance and I are like brothers to each other.”

“Brothers…” Arthur murmured to himself.

“Not,” Merlin repeated, that grin still tugging at his lips, “that it’s really any of your business.”

Arthur found himself smiling back. “Of course.”

“Still!” Merlin continued, tilting his chin up to the night sky, as they turned and walked the streets of London on their way back to Arthur’s flat. “It was quite a shock to run into him tonight. Who knew you two would end up being friends.”

“It’s a small world.”

“I guess so.”

“Gwaine would say it’s fate, or some other bull like that.” Arthur felt a fond grin pull at his lips. “But Gwaine’s an ass, so.”

Merlin laughed infectiously, giving Arthur a playful shove with his elbow. There was still a bit left to go to get back to the building, but with his cheeks sore from smiling and the cold wind blowing against the tips of his ears, Arthur didn’t mind one bit

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was supposed to be a one-shot so I already had all of it written, and I have zero patience so here's the next chapter-- hope you liked it! Leave a comment or kudos if you feel so inclined.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me some time! As I mentioned before I had written this fic entirely before posting it, but then I decided to add in an important scene here, and it took some time since my life got Really Busy. Thank you so much for the lovely comments!

Life worked in strange ways.

As he led a happily trotting Mimi back into the lobby of the apartment building that morning, giving a friendly wave to the doorman and the woman at the front desk who had come to recognize him, he felt an odd twinge of nostalgia. As his final week of dog-sitting came to a close, he found himself feeling anxious more and more, unable to help but remember that he was one walk, one fill up of a food bowl, one fur grooming closer to never walking the chihuahua again. 

And with that, never needing to see Arthur again.

The job that had at first been a burden given to him by a snob turned out to be an opportunity given by someone he was quickly realizing he still wanted to be around. Ever since the holiday party Arthur’s friends had felt at ease hanging around his flat while Merlin was there— usually they were eating or playing video games, but often enough they also accompanied him on walks, or held Mimi while Merlin clipped her nails her (Percy holding the chihuahua in his giant arms made a picturesque moment that Merlin had actually made his lockscreen). He had even hung out outside of his ‘work hours’ with Lance and Gwen, and as strange as it was to suddenly find so many new, and old, friends in this giant city he had just moved to, it felt right somehow. 

And now he’d have to leave it.

With a sigh he stepped out of the lift and unlocked the door to Arthur’s flat, noting that it was empty this time. As he released Mimi from her pink bedazzled leash, which Merlin was suspecting had actual valuable gemstones in it and thus probably cost more than his rent, he couldn’t help the way his mind wandered into thoughts he was trying so hard to avoid.

He knew he was overreacting. He had already gotten most of the phone numbers of his new friends, and he knew he could call them up if he ever wanted to without a problem. But he was worried that without the cause to be there, to be in their lives, in Arthur’s life, he would slowly fade out. And he didn’t have a cause. He was just a dog-walker. Anything he felt from Arthur, any signs he felt like he was reading, were probably all probably projected, or just signs of gratitude for the small service Merlin was provided. He was an employe, and that was all. And though it had only been a short time, that thought made his stomach feel like lead. 

He tried to push the anxiety away. He still had two days left, and he’d find a newer and less hairy job soon enough. He wouldn’t have to ignore the weird stares he got for taking a chihuahua out walking in December, and he wouldn’t have to give her lavender petal baths anymore or coax her not to chew on Arthur’s couch legs. He wouldn’t have to be jostled around by Arthur’s friends, or have his cheeks hurt from laughing so much, or have his heart feel light from being around —and almost part of, at times— a group of friends so genuinely happy, and loyal, and kind. And he wouldn’t have to be put up with Arthur’s smug grin.

Arthur.

_ Crap,  _ Merlin thought. So much for pushing the anxiety away. 

The blond was infuriating, and annoying, and obnoxious. But he was also confident, and hilarious, and chivalrous. Merlin could already tell he was the kind of man that always stood up for those close to him and he genuine respected him, was able to see just how hard he worked for his job, just how much he went above and beyond to prove himself. 

“What’s got you sighing like a tea kettle?” 

“Jumping jehoshaph—” Merlin nearly jumped out of his own skin at the sudden voice, his heart pounding against his ribs. “  _ Jesus,  _ Arthur what are you, a ninja? I didn’t hear you at all.” 

Arthur just raised an eyebrow at him, looking for all the world like Merlin had suddenly grown a third head. “I didn’t know you were so easily scared— and ‘jumping Jehoshaphat,’ really? Who are you, my grandfather?”

Merlin went to rub at his neck as he grumbled, “My mother didn’t like my swearing around the house, so I made do.”

Arthur’s grin turned roguish, as he leaned over to grab a cup of coffee from the kitchen counter. “That hasn’t stopped you from calling me, your  _ employer  _ need I remind you, a ghastly number of bad names.”

Merlin was about to retort when he realized Arthur’s free hand was rubbing a towel to the back of his head. Water was glistening over Arthur’s jaw and down his throat, dipping into the collar bone hidden beneath his button down, which was partially open. Merlin felt his jaw clench and his cheeks burn, and he quickly turned away and interested himself in brushing stray fur off of Mimi’s dog bed.

For a moment Merlin genuinely thought he was spared from this conversation, but after a loud slurp of his coffee Arthur continued. “But seriously, why all the sighing? You sound like my sister during a football game.” 

Merlin gave a shrug, hoping he sounded casual enough to cover up is inability to find an excuse. “I dunno, it’s just,” another shrug. “You know, one of those days.”

There was another painful minute of silence as Merlin remained hunched over, continuing to rearrange Mimi’s things.

“What are your plans tonight?” Arthur blurted.

Merlin froze, and turned slowly to look at him. Though Arthur’s face was carefully neutral, he could see that there was earnesty in his eyes. Still, he replied cautiously. “Nothing… why?”

Arthur wore a small, easy smile, and his tone was laid-back. “If you’ve got nothing to do, maybe we can go to dinner. You still haven’t been in London long, right? There’s plenty of places you have to see.” Merlin’s pulse was pounding. Arthur must have seen the uncertainty in his eyes, because he continued. “I’ll pay this time. It’s not fair of me to invite you and not to.”

_ To invite you.  _ “No, it’s not that.” Arthur gave him a look, and a hesitant smile spread over Merlin’s lips as he stood, brushing hairs off his pants. “Yeah. Sure. I’d like that.”

“Yeah?” The miniscule hint of eagerness in his tone betrayed the outward impassivity of his expression.

“Yeah.”

“Tonight, at seven?”

“Tonight at seven.”

Arthur’s friendly smile mirrored his own, and he went into the kitchen to set the coffee down. “Great,” he called out “Since I’m taking a slightly later morning, and since everything is a bit hectic, I have to stay a bit later at the office, so I’ll text you the address and meet you there.”

“Sounds good,” Merlin responded, feeling a bit dizzy.

Arthur strode back in, bag slung across his chest and coat jacket slung over his arm. “Great. I’ll,” there was a pause, and it looked like the blond was about to put a hand on Merlin’s shoulder but he kept it at his side. “I’ll meet you there.” 

Merlin gave a nod which Arthur mirrored, before adjusting the strap of his bag and walking to the door.  “Goodbye,” he called out again, as the door closed.

“Bye,” Merlin said, though that time no one was there to listen except Mimi, who tilted her head at him. 

Finally processing, a grin spread broadly against his cheeks as he squatted down to scratch her behind the ears. “Well how about that?” he said to the dog, who happily wagged her tail.

Maybe he wouldn’t be forgotten. 

Maybe.

BREAK

Traffic was horrendous. His shoes and pants had been stained by dirty slushed snow on the street, causing his father to scold him about ‘proper business attire’. Most of his interns and assistants were already on leave for the holidays, and the few that were still there were grumpy about that fact, and thus lazy in their work. Three of his meetings had ran long, forcing him to scarf down half of a take out lunch in his office while on the call with angry clients, and two of those three meetings had ended up with the client pulling out of a deal because of a mistake his father’s friends (who he knew that if he fired or scolded would start an absolute riot of lawsuits) had made, which were now being pinned on him. And to top it all off he was left, with the dull fluorescent lights in his office casting a flickering gaze (the electricity company the building used went bankrupt, so they were working on switching to another), on Arthur, who sat hunched over his desk correcting the mistakes those men had made. 

They were the kind of employees that assumed they were too good to do any of their own work, and when they did it was half-assed at best. But of course they played golf with his father on weekends and liked to remind him on a regular basis they had been working at this company for almost as long as he’d been alive, and were quite upset that he had climbed the ladder to a higher position than them. Nevermind that he had worked hard to earn his spot, and that all they did was complain. They were the kind of employees he had to prove himself to, again and again, and sometimes it drove him mad.

All and all, Arthur was having a horrid day. 

His assistant— the one angel amongst this wretch of a day, who had organized his files and made calls for him non-stop all day as he ran himself ragged— knocked on the door.

“Come in, Sarah.” He voice sounded weary to his own ears.

“Excuse me,” she stepped through the door and up to his desk, and gave him a tired smile. “Those accounting corrections were the last of it for tonight, sir.” 

“You mean we’re finally done?”

“Yes.”

He rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “Thank god, what time is it?” Just then, with the stress of the day oozing out of his shoulders, a horrible thought occurred to him. “Wait.” He dropped his hands, and asked her again, tensely. “Sarah, what time is it?”

“10 p.m., sir, why?”

“Shit!” Arthur practically threw himself from the desk in a hurry to grab his bag and coat. “Shit shit shit,  _ bollocks _ , shit!” he haphazardly threw his bag, his coat, everything on and flung himself out the door. “Thank you for your work today, have a good night, Sara!” He called towards his bewildered assistant when he was already halfway towards the lift, hands frantically scrambling for his phone, which was on silent.

_ ‘Four (4) texts and two (2) missed calls from Merlin.’  _ The screen read. 

Arthur let out a string of creative curses as he tried to text Merlin, but of course there was no signal in the lift. His fingers went to push the call button as he made his way down the lobby to his car, but after two rings it went straight to voicemail. 

_ Shit. _

After three more failed attempts to call Arthur pulled out of the parking garage, driving and dictating voice-memos at the same time.

**[TEXT] Pri(ck)nce Arthur**

Merlin, I’m so sorry

I got swamped at work, and people messed up

I had to clean up after everyone’s mistakes

And I just got so busy and stressed I didn’t realize what time it was I promise I didn’t forget

**[TEXT] Mimi’s Chew Toy**

It’s fine. 

**[TEXT] Pri(ck)nce Arthur**

I promise I’ll make it up to you

We can still make it to dinner

Or we can reschedule

**[TEXT] Mimi’s Chew Toy**

Don’t.

It’s fine.

**[TEXT] Pri(ck)nce Arthur**

Where are you now? 

Let me come over 

Please

_ Read at 10:05 pm. _

Arthur gave a loud sigh as he strongly considered banging his head into the steering wheel. At this point he wasn’t even sure where he was driving to, but he let himself keep going, let his hands and feet navigate the street on autopilot while his mind was far, far away, reprimanding himself for being a twat. 

A few minutes later he came back to himself and found that he had driven to the Rising Sun, the pub he and his friends often hung out at (when they weren’t crashing his place). He pulled over and stuffed his phone in his jacket pocket before shouldering open the door. He was only mildly surprised to see Gwen sitting on a stool at the counter. Further back in the room he could make out a few of their friends playing pool. 

He sat next to her with a pressed smile and a short wave of his hand before ordering a beer.

“Hello Arthur,” she said, cocking her head to the side. “I’m surprised to see you here. Didn’t you have something with Merlin?”

For a moment he considered asking how she knew that, but remembering how his friends always found out every bloody thing that happened in his life, decided not to waste his breath. Instead he muttered, “Sort of.”

He prayed she’d just drop it. 

“‘Sort of?’” 

He ran a hand through his hair. “It’s a long story.”

“Is it?” She asked somewhat forcefully. “If something happened you should try to fix it, you know, instead of sulking.” 

“Well what am I supposed to do? I messed up, I apologized, and it didn’t work so now I’m here. Maybe he’s better off not having to deal with me anymore anyway, and now that the dog is almost out of the picture he won’t be forced to.”

“‘Forced to?’ Oh, Arthur.” He finally looked up to make eye contact with Gwen, and was surprised to find the expression in her eyes had shifted to that gentle, kind look mixed with a will of iron that only she could truly pull off. “Tell me what happened. Please?”

He gave a sigh, folded his hands together on the counter in front of them, and explained the story to her, from the morning (which already felt like it had happened weeks ago), to the current moment. 

“And that’s how you currently found me.”

“Oh, Arthur.” She repeated.

“Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to drink my beer and continue feeling like a sorry sop.” To make a point he took a large gulp from his glass.

“Would you? Or would you like to go apologize to Merlin?”

The exhaustion of his day caught up to him again, and he found himself groaning and looking at her like she’d gone mad. “I’ve already  _ tried _ that. He doesn’t want to hear from me.”

“Have you thought about how  _ he  _ feels?” She stared at him inquisitively, clearly trying to look into his eyes, and he diverted them with an annoyed hand gesture.

“Yes, he’s probably feeling annoyed that I’m a douche—”

“No, not just about today. Lately. In general.”

Again, he turned to stare at her. “I don’t understand.”

“He’s not just upset about tonight Arthur. It was a mistake. He knows that. You work very hard, he knows that too— we all do. You’ve stood us up a couple times as well, and we forgave you.”

“So what’s the difference?”

She gave a small, sympathetic smile. “He’s clearly worried that he doesn’t matter. That as soon as Morgana comes back for her dog you’re going to forget him, or that you’re going to stop having a reason to. That we all are, probably, since he was getting along quite well with the others,” Arthur couldn’t help but shoot a quick gaze over her shoulder, where their friends were laughing rambunctiously in the background. “But it starts with you. He thinks you’ll want nothing to do with him.”

“But that’s ridiculous. Of course I do.”

Gwen smiled again, though this time he couldn’t help but feel like the look on her face was one of a teacher exasperatedly explaining something to a stubborn toddler. “Then go show him!” She gave him a soft smack across the shoulder

“How?”

“Get off your sorry stool, go drive over to his apartment, and show him you want to be with him. That even when work gets in the way, or causes issues, you’ll still make an effort.”

“You think that’ll work?” Arthur couldn’t help the hope that seeped into his voice.

“Yes!” Another smack. Arthur started fumbling for his wallet absently to pay for his barely touched drink, already rising to leave. “But only if you go quickly. Go go!”

“Okay, okay!” He grabbed his keys and jogged for the door, turning back to wave at her. “Thank you, Guinevere!”

“Of course!” She called back with a laugh. “But don’t let this one get away! He makes a great cup of tea, and he’s much more polite company than this lot!”

Arthur promised silently to himself that he wouldn’t.

Two stops, a couple of missed turns from the slowness of his phone’s GPS, and thirty minutes later and Arthur was climbing up the third flight of stairs of a small apartment building. Normally that would barely phase him, but because of his rush and the butterfly of nerves in his stomach (which he wasn’t used to having), he felt himself struggling to catch his breath as he made his way towards the second apartment door. 

He double-checked the address — more out of a way to procrastinate than anything else— that Merlin had texted him forever ago when he had decided to take the job, fidgeted with the bags in his other hand, and shook his head to move his hair out of his eyes.

For a brief moment he considered not doing it. It would be easy enough to leave— Merlin would be none the wiser. He could go home, lay in bed, and hope to never have to do something embarrassing again. 

But then Merlin’s crystal blue eyes, his high cheekbones, his cheeky smile came flitting through Arthur’s mind. The way his eyelashes were thick and spread out dark like black feathers at the end of a hand fan. The way his laughter always came out slightly startled, as if he hadn’t quite meant to be amused, making the reaction all the more genuine. The way he gave Arthur advice without judgement, the concentrated look on his face when he clipped Mimi’s nails, the way the thin, long bones of his hands seemed to move underneath his skin every time he reached out for something, the way he whistled softly when he thought no one was around.

And then Gwen’s words repeated in Arthur’s ears. How Merlin was worried Arthur would forget him, or somehow didn’t want him there.

With a scoff, and a  _ to hell with it _ attitude, Arthur pocketed his phone and knocked on the door. 

A few moments passed in silence. Then a few more, and a few more after that. A good minute had passed and Arthur was about to knock again when he heard footsteps on the other side.

“One second!” The voice behind the door called out. Another minute passed, but this time he could hear movement inside. “Sorry— just give me... one—” the sound of furniture crashing rang through the thin walls of the apartment complex. “One second…” more thuds and footsteps, and Arthur smiled despite himself.

“Who is it?” Merlin called out again.

Arthur cleared his throat rather awkwardly. “Er… your employer?”

There was silence, and Arthur for a moment worried he wouldn’t open the door— and honestly he wouldn’t blame him.

But to his slight surprise, and barely-veiled relief, the door opened slightly, and Merlin leaned against the frame, positioning himself in the gap. 

He opened his mouth to speak, expression closed off, but Arthur cut him off. “Before you— before you speak, and tell me what a pratt I’ve been—” he coughed awkwardly again, “let me just say, I’m sorry. I fell too deep into work, and I know that’s not much of an excuse, but I’m sorry.”

Merlin was about to say something but Arthur continued quickly, “and I can’t even promise it won’t happen again. Work is really important to me, and so are my friends, but even I can admit I’m not always very good at handling the two.” Merlin scoffed lightly, and Arthur had to hold back a smile. “But I want to get better. And I can’t promise it won’t happen again, but I can promise I’ll try. I want to try. With you.” 

In the silence something unspoken passed between them, and Arthur made sure to hold Merlin’s light-blue gaze.

“I want to try to balance it with you,” he continued, though more level-headed, “and I want to try to make time for you— I’m going to make time for you.” He let out an annoyed breath as he felt his cheeks warm up, and this time couldn’t help averting his eyes and scratching the back of his neck with his free hand. “You’re important to me, and I want you to stay in my life, even after Morgana comes tomorrow to pick up Mimi. We all do.”

And he found that he was being entirely honest. He wasn’t sure how, or when, or why, but in the relatively short amount of time they had known each other, Merlin had become a part of his day-to-day that he didn’t want to go without. 

“So, um, stay. As long as you want to. It’s Christmas Eve later this week, and the mates and I always hold a celebration— music, liquor, gifts, reruns of  _ Coupling  _ and  _ Love Actually _ , you know, the usual bout of fun. Why don’t you come? —But, for now,” Arthur couldn’t help the pained expression that flashed across his face as he was aware of his rambling but couldn’t stop.  “Let me come in and try and make tonight up to you?” He held up the bags in his other hand. “I brought food from that bakery you like— the expensive one you’re always stealing food from out of my fridge.”

Arthur felt his heart physically jolt when Merlin gave a soft scoff. “Arthur, all of your food is expensive.”

“That’s fair,” he said, but his mind wasn’t in the quip. He was looking at Merlin, hopefully, anxiously, biting at the inside of his cheek.

And then Merlin gave a soft, sincere smile that just barely brought out his dimples as he opened the door wider. It was the most beautiful smile Arthur had ever seen.

“Just don’t make any jokes about the size or cleanliness of my apartment, or I’ll tell your sister you tried to dye her dog orange.”

Arthur’s lip twitched. “I promise.”

 

* * *

 

 

It had been a bit of a rush, truth be told, to wrangle presents for everybody in time. But Arthur had assured him that the gifts weren’t usually giant or elaborately expensive at this yearly party, and rather were small, meaningful (and often times silly, apparently) gifts. Merlin had also finally met Morgana, who gave him a dazzling, if slightly distant, smile and hug for looking after Mimi. In appearances, except for her height, she was almost entirely opposite from her half-brother, but apparently not in small gestures of kindness— she had given him a Christmas bonus, which she claimed was “For looking after my brother as much as you did my dog.”

So with Gwen helping him navigate london malls, ‘sale’ signs acting as his best friend, and his final paycheck in hand, Merlin had done the near-impossible— doing all of his christmas shopping (minus Gaius and his mother, of course, both of whom he had bought presents for well in advance) the eve of Christmas eve. 

There was one gift he was particularly proud of, which he was currently hiding inside of Arthur’s room. As he gently closes the door, so as not to call attention to the men in the living room, he glanced over to see Gwen giving him a conspiratory thumbs-up.

“All in the clear,” she whispers, and she moved to inconspicuously stroll back into the main room of the party. 

Merlin began counting to ten, preparing to join her into the main room, when he heard a voice suddenly behind him and let out a startled yelp.

“Why are you standing there all— Jesus, Merlin, it’s just me— why are you so jumpy all the time?”

Merlin’s hand was over his pounding heart. “I can’t help that you make no noise! Stop sneaking up on me!”

He looked up and found that in the slightly narrow space of the hallway they were much closer than he had originally anticipated. The lights were dim, as Merlin hadn’t turned them on in the hopes that he wouldn’t be caught sneaking around, and Arthur’s eyelashes cast a shadow over his cheekbones.

“First place?” Arthur was saying.

Merlin blinked back into focus. “I’m sorry— repeat that?”

“Are you sure you aren’t just hard of hearing?” But there was no bite behind Arthur’s words, and he took a half step closer to Merlin to make sure he heard him this time. “Why were you outside my room in the first place?”

They were basically the same height, and so all that flood Merlin’s direct line of sight was Arthur’s face, and he was right— he really did belong on the cover of a magazine. The intense blue of his eyes, the strong set of his nose, the dim shades of golden-blond in his hair in the low light, and his impossibly red lips. Merlin blinked again, and felt like he was speaking from underwater. “Oh, you know,” he distantly heard himself say.

Was it his imagination, or was Arthur leaning closer?

Or was he leaning closer?

“No,” Arthur mumbled, his face slowly inching forward. “I don’t know.”

Merlin’s brain gave up trying to properly process anything, and in a sudden wave of recklessness pressed forward to close the space between Arthur’s lips and his. His foot stumbled slightly, causing him to press into Arthur with more force than intended, but the blond simply groaned out a noise of pleasant surprise and moved his lips against his.

Merlin felt his pulse slow down to a low hum as his lips glided over his, slowly, sensually and Arthur put an arm around him, his elbow circling around his neck to press the kiss deeper. Merlin let out a small noise that sent Arthur kissing more quickly, more hungrily, and put a hand around the back of his neck, allowing his fingers to run through impossibly soft strands of blond. Arthur pushed forward another half step and Merlin was back against the wall, feeling the rise and fall of his chest press against Arthur’s.

And then, despite himself, Merlin felt a laugh bubble from the back of his throat. It started as a small chuckle, that Arthur let out an annoyed noise to, but it continued, growing louder and harder to stop until it actually interrupted the kiss. Merlin nearly bent over, pure, joyous laughter falling from his lips, as Arthur, cheeks bright pink and tone scandalized, gave him an indignant look. “What in all hells could you be laughing at?”

“Nothing,” Merlin said in between laughs. He took a deep, steadying breath, and elaborated once he could speak. “I’m just—” he felt his expression go bashful, “happy. Really happy.”

Arthur’s face went nearly slack-jawed with surprise before it quickly turned into a fond, wry smile. “Come on, you. Let’s get back before they declare us missing.” 

He gave Merlin a light shove, and they both came back into the room, chuckling almost giddily. Luckily, everyone else was so deep in conversation that no one noticed their re-entrance, nor their flushed expression, except Gwen, who had been waiting for Merlin to come back. Her gaze moved from his face to Arthur’s before sliding back to his own, and she gave him an approving, knowing look. He stuck his tongue out at her. Arthur gave a cough and excused himself quietly to the kitchen.

“—And that’s,” Gwaine was saying, “why I stopped eating cereal on days with a full moon.”

They all burst out into laughter, and while Percival gave Gwaine a shove, Elyan said, “You’re an idiot.” 

Gwaine waggled his drink in both their faces. “A very handsome idiot.” Another round of shoves from the entire group followed, which Merlin pitched in on. “Hey hey— don’t spill the drink!”

“Arthur will kill you if you stain his carpet,” Gwen added.

“You’re damn right I will!” The blond called out as he came back into the room, carrying platters of food, which they all crowded around.

“Here you go,” a voice said over Merlin’s shoulder, and he smiled to see Lance passing him a cup of eggnog.

“Thanks.” 

“Now that there’s food, can we get to the presents?” Arthur asked.

“Patience is a virtue,” Leon said, even as they all began moving the couch and chairs closer towards the tree.

“So are good gifts,” Arthur added with a brash smile.

As they arranged the last of things to get ready, Merlin felt a wide arm sling around his shoulder. He turned his head to see Arthur’s, and from this distance could see the slight pink dusting his cheeks. Though he wasn’t quite drunk yet, clearly he had been drinking happily with the rest— and perhaps it was something else too.

Merlin fought back a blush of his own.

“Here,” he said, handing Merlin another cup.

“I already have eggnog,” he couldn’t help pointing out with a slight smile.

“You can have two different drinks, can’t you? No one will tell on you, I promise.”

Merlin smiled and took the drink, downing it in a few large gulps. He was about to smirk over the rim of his empty glass when he started coughing aggressively, the heat of the liquor sliding down his throat giving a delayed reaction.

The room burst into laughter, and Merlin gave them a grin after he wiped his mouth against the back of his hand. The image of Gaius cringing at his manners made him feel slightly guilty.

“Someone’s festive,” Elyan said.

“Hopefully,” Arthur added, now having moved away from Merlin to move something, “he can hold his liquor better than Gwen can.”

“Hey!” She protested.

Lance shot Merlin a wry grin. “He can’t.”

A few minutes later and they were finally all sitting in close proximity to the presents underneath the tree, scattered around the couch chairs and on the floor. Merlin noted, with a small, victorious skip of his heart, that Arthur had made a point to sit next to him, even as he was currently sitting cross-legged on the carpet.

The evening passed and music mingled with the distant sound of the TV as Gwen started handing out people’s gifts, and they tried guessing who it was from. Leon never got it wrong once, driving the rest of them crazy, but all in all it was enjoyable.

Merlin had received hats, cologne, CDs, a surprisingly fashionable shirt from Percival, a stack of books from Gwen, and a vintage copy of his favorite video game from Lance that they always used to play together. Still, he couldn’t help but relish the impatience he felt vibrating off of the man next to him, as the blond opened more and more presents and still none were from Merlin.

“Is it true you finally found a job?” Gwaine asked, mouth half-full from shoving in large pieces of the tin of cake Merlin had given him.

Merlin, now wearing a ridiculously fluffy hat, smiled broadly. “Yes! The clinic Gaius used to work at had an opening for the front desk, and apparently I was the most qualified for the job.”

“Congratulations!” Gwen chirped, shrugging on the purposefully ugly sweater she had gotten from her brother. “You must be happy.”

“Thanks— yeah, I’ve always considered it’d be great to be a doctor or a nurse, so hopefully I can save up money and get experience at the same time to go to medical school.”

“Okay, we’re almost at the last one. It’s for Lance.” 

Merlin tried to keep his face passive with a sip from his eggnog as he recognized the pattern on the paper. Lancelot carefully unwrapped it and pulled out a simple white box, on the smaller side of medium-sized. As everyone watched with curious looks Lance slowly opened the box, and stared at it for a moment. He immediately looked up at Merlin with a broad smile on his face.

“What?” Elyan asked, trying to lean over to look. “What is it?”

“It’s a letter opener,” Lance said, still grinning. He pulled it out, and the colorful lights of the tree reflected off the metal. It was thin and elegantly simple, the handle of it carved to resemble the hilt of a sword, and the patterned silver blade gave off a medieval look.

“Is that Excalibur?” Percival asked, and this time Merlin nodded.

“Both of our families loved the myths of king Arthur. And we read a ton of books and watched a ton of movies based off of it as kids.”

“That’s why we’re both named after it,” Lance added. “Thank you, Merlin.”

Merlin simply nodded, unable to fend off the smile that persisted on his lips. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Arthur next to him, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the look on his face was one of sincere happiness— no jealousy marking his handsome features.

Merlin swallowed and looked away, fighting off the blush on his cheeks. Luckily the group had broken out into chatter again, and it went unnoticed.

“Next one,” Gwen handed Merlin a white, stylish looking shopping bag, which he gave a suspicious stare at. 

“Go on,” she said. “Open it before Santa comes.”

He carefully took out the red tissue paper and let it drop with a flutter on the floor in front of him, before his hands found the gift at the bottom. It was indescribably soft to the touch. He pulled it out, and to his surprise saw it was a long scarf in a stylish, pewter grey. It was thin but still provided warmth to his hands, and at the end of it was a simple emblem sewed into it in white, of some designer brand. 

With a start he came back to himself, hearing a whistle from somewhere. “That’s a nice scarf!”

He looked up at Arthur, who had that look on his face that Merlin had come to know meant he was purposefully schooling his expression into something casual. 

“Thank you,” Merlin said, and was surprised at the emotion in his own voice.

Arthur’s facade shifted, and a sincere smile pulled softly at the corners of his mouth. He gave a shrug. “It’s better than that unsightly red one you’re always wearing.”

“Are you supposed to insult the person you’re giving a gift to?” Merlin asked in between a wry grin as he tied the scarf around his neck.

“Don’t think so,” Percival said.

“It’s the truth.” 

Someone threw a pillow at Arthur’s face.

“This is the last one!” Gwen said, grabbing a soft-looking, rounded-square package and tossing it to Gwaine. “Here you are.” 

Unlike Lance he simply tore the neatly-wrapped paper, and pulled out a light blue jersey with a white collar. On the right there was a small white crest in a white circle, but from this distance Merlin couldn’t read what it said. However, at the sight of the name and number on the back, Gwaine’s expression quickly turned into shock. 

He looked up at Leon and shouted out indignantly,  “How dare you!” 

Everyone broke out into laughter around him, especially Percival, who had to raise a fist to his mouth to try and hold it in. At his side Merlin could feel Arthur’s broad shoulders brush against his when they shook.

“What can I say?” Leon attempted a casual shrug, but the poorly contained laughter threatening to spill out of his lips ruined the effect. He tilted himself to the right to avoid Gwaine’s attempt at chucking the jersey in his face.

Arthur leaned over and whispered to Merlin. “Manchester United and Manchester City are two derby football teams, and they have a pretty fierce rivalry. As you can probably tell, Gwaine is not a City fan.”

“Ah,” Merlin thought on it for a hard second. He had never been one too into sports, but the names were familiar enough for him to recall. “I think my friends back home always liked Liverpool?”

Both Leon and Gwaine turned on him with a scathing glare fiercer than any expression he had seen on either of their faces, and Merlin was so shocked he shot his hands up to either side of his shoulders automatically as a show of innocence.  “But uh… I’m more of a tennis fan myself, so I’ve never really agreed with them?”

That seemed to placate them enough, and soon Gwaine was handed a ‘real’ gift, secretly hidden underneath the couch, which had a rugby jersey for some team that brought a smile to everyone’s face.

Speaking of a secret gift…

“Well, that’s all of them.” Gwen said with a calm smile, sitting down next to Lance innocently, though she couldn’t keep the mischief out of her eyes as she purposefully avoided Merlin’s gaze.

They all sat in somewhat awkward silence, and Merlin could barely hold back a grin as he felt the confusion and impatience roll off of Arthur in waves.

“Right, well.” The blond said after a moment of clearing his throat. “I guess we could watch the movie now, or something.”

After a few more seconds of no one saying anything, Merlin finally broke out laughing.

“What?” Arthur said, sounding slightly offended, but much in the way of a pouting 12-year-old.

“Okay, enough, I think you can stop being so mean, Merlin,” Gwen had a broad smile as she threw another pillow at him for emphasis. It hit him square in the chest.

“Okay okay!” This time he couldn’t keep the stupid grin off his face as he turned to face Arthur. “My gift is last. You have to follow along though.”

Arthur gave him an extremely skeptical look.

“Promise me you will.”

The blond took a breath in, as if he was about to agree to being dipped in boiling lava, then let it out, long and put-upon. “Fine, fine.”

“Great. First,” Merlin looked around, and Gwaine threw the City jersey at him. With a thank you he went to tie it around Arthur’s eyes.

“What the hell are you—” 

“Ah, ah, ah.” Merlin cut in. “You promised.”

Arthur crossed his arms, but gave no protests further than some indistinguishable muttering under his breath. Though Gwen was the only one in on it, Merlin had to fight off a sheepish blush as he saw that all of Arthur’s friends were giving him devious, joyful smiles. They almost looked impressed. Clearly, his appreciation for small pranks was something that would be accepted in this group.

“I’ll be right back,” Merlin got up to walk back towards the hallway that lead to Arthur’s room.

“Why,” Arthur called out to him, “do I have the feeling this is not going to be enjoyable?”

“Oh, stop being so grumpy, for once,” he heard Leon say.

Merlin came tip-toeing back with a finger to his lips to keep everyone quiet. Considering what they saw, it was no easy task, and Arthur turned his ears left and right in a paranoid manner as mumbled chuckles passed around him. “What? Is he about to draw on my face? What’s happening?”

Once Merlin was close to him again, he called out, “Merry Christmas!” and let go.

He could see Arthur’s forehead wrinkle in his attempt to understand, a split second before he was toppled over, his face licked from top to bottom. With a surprised yelp he all but ripped off his makeshift blindfold, and stared down, stunned. On top of him, and happily slobbering over his face, was a large English Mastiff, with soft, light-brown ears flopping on either side of him, and giant paws that weren’t quite proportionate to him yet.

Arthur looked up, surprise making his wide eyes much brighter blue, but there was some soft, questioning expression in them, as his hand absently went to scratch behind the dog’s ears.

Merlin scratched at the back of his neck. “I saw him at the shelter on my way to the mall when we were Christmas shopping, and I just knew he’d be perfect for you.” Arthur was still silent, so he rambled on. “I wasn’t sure they would let me take him so quickly, but apparently being able to prove that I work for Arthur Pendragon sped up the process a lot— oh, also, the shelter said they would love it if you’d come visit sometimes for publicity. Er— either way, his name is Draco, and he’s just over six months’ so he’s not at full size yet but— you said you always wanted a big dog, and the shelter said he was a huge sweetheart.” 

Finally, the most gentle expression Merlin had yet seen crossed over Arthur’s face, twinged with sincerity and boyish excitement. “Thank you, Merlin. He’s wonderful.”

Merlin grinned back, and for a second he forgot anything else in the world existed— anything except for himself, the infuriating, kind, dedicated blond in front of him, and one ridiculously cheery dog. 

“No problem,” he replied quietly. 

When he blinked again, he realized everyone in the group had moved to swarm the dog, who was now excitedly trying to figure out how to retain the maximum amount of attention from six more people. Arthur grinned proudly, though he still seemed a bit overwhelmed.

“Oh,” Merlin cut in, his lip twitching, and Arthur’s blue eyes met his. “And I promise I’ll help you train him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this fic, and I hope you enjoyed it! Leave me a comment letting me know what you think, and maybe a kudos? Thank you! (Honestly, I was in the process of writing my OC X Percival fic, and as much as I like where the story is going it felt so weird to write a long het ship for the show that I had to do something Merthur. That was the inspiration for this, and the AU idea just hit me. Still, go check that out and see if it interests you!)


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